Clayton Street project rolls forward

Government and business reporter

The $7.1 million project, funded through voter-approved special-purpose local option sales tax, is scheduled for a mayor and commission vote Nov. 5. The vote would only be to approve a concept for the work, with concrete plans yet to come. Most of the work would still be more than a year after the November vote, but some retailers are readying a deep breath before the plunge into construction.

“Nobody’s excited about the prospect of having the disturbance and disruption, but it’s been 30 years since they’ve done anything with Clayton Street,” said Irvin Alhadeff, owner of Masada Leather and Outdoor.

Alhadeff’s Clayton Street business is ground zero for the work, which will run from Lumpkin Street to Thomas Street. Jackson Street from Broad Street to Washington Street and Wall Street from Broad to Clayton are also slated for work. Alhadeff is hopeful that disruptions will be minimal, but also emphasized the need for the work.

“Just look around,” he said, walking outside and pointing up and down the street.

The proposed work includes storm drain improvements to better handle runoff — and hopefully eliminate odor and standing water — new sidewalks with brick pavers, new trees and more.

In open meetings, officials have stressed setting the schedule in such a way as to minimize disruptions to downtown businesses, chiefly by scheduling work in the late winter through summer, starting next year and running through August 2015. In other words, it would avoid the football and holiday shopping seasons. But it didn’t eliminate concerns among shopkeepers.

Jane Scott, owner of Native America on Clayton Street, was worried about disruptions, especially after hearing horror stories about westside downtown work about 15 years ago.

“We’re open all year,” she said. “While Christmas is important, and we’re really busy, January through August is a pretty big window.”

She was particularly concerned about utility work scheduled for January for which she hadn’t heard specific plans.

Derek Doster, the SPLOST project administrator, said a firmer schedule for the utility work is being hashed out now. It would be done on a block-by-block basis, without the entire road being torn up. He said individual utility outages would be “very, very limited.”

Anne Shepherd, owner of Chick Music in downtown Athens, said she’s hopeful the project will be better than when her West Clayton Street business was rattled by a corridor project about 15 years ago. She said the contractor then was “not the best” and what should have taken a few months took more than a year. Customers needed to park a block from the entrance to shop there, and a piece of plywood became a bridge because “there was a just a hole” where the walkway was, Shepherd said. She remembers then-Mayor Doc Eldridge giving her a mock Purple Heart for surviving the project. But with those harsh lessons, she’s hopeful others won’t go through what she did.

“I think it will go a lot smoother up that way,” Shepherd said. “I hope it is, because I wouldn’t want that on my worst enemy.”

She said the street ended up looking much better and she was, in the end, glad the work was done.

Commissioner Jerry NeSmith drummed encouragement this week for Internet providers to take the time to install fiber optic cable in the utility corridors while the downtown work is proceeding. In public meetings, he’s referred to it as being as important as other utilities for its economic impact.

“If we don’t bury fiber when we have that street open, it’s a huge mistake,” he said at a recent Athens Downtown Development Authority meeting.

Officials from various Internet providers in town at that meeting were excited about the opportunity, but didn’t make any guarantees of loading fiber optic cable into the trenches when they’re open. One noted, however, that not taking advantage of the existing opening would likely drive costs up tenfold for the project.

The ADDA staff is also eyeing the opportunity of work on the corridor: part of the 2014 work plan adopted last week was to find a way to replace the often-derided pay-and-display meters in the downtown core.

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